Fitness Over 40

Volleyball drills with Natasha

Natasha is on break from both her school volleyball team and her club volleyball team.   Following a tradition we started last year, we are going to work out during her two week Christmas break on areas of weakness for her.  Last year, after two weeks of one on one drills, she went from being a reserve on her 7th grade team to starting the rest of the season.

This year we are going to focus on Natasha’s power.  She is an outside hitter for both of her teams, and although she has good footwork and position technique, she isn’t generating as much power as she would like. 

The source of her lack of power comes from a few factors: 

• This is only her third season in volleyball (after 7 years competing in gymnastics), so she is still getting use to “ball” sports.  Her timing is just a little bit off on her serves and hits.
• A related issue is that Natasha serves and hits with her arms.  She isn’t fully integrating the torque generated from using her whole body rather than just her arms.
• Natasha throws the ball too high on her serves.  As a result, she is usually hitting the ball when it is above or behind her head.  Because she is use to letting the ball drift above her head on serves, this habit is also carrying forward to her hits.  This causes her to lose power, and it strains her lower back.  She needs to focus on keeping the ball in front of her on serves and hits.
• Natasha is very flexible.  Great for some things, but a problem for others.  Hitting with power works better if you are using a board instead of a rope.  For Natasha, she is going to have to work harder than most at keeping her core and arms tight when she hits.  Basically, she needs to “zip up” every-time she pulls her arms above her waist.

So here is what we will be working on during her winter break:

• Timing and precision of hits
• Integrating her arm and body on her hits
• Zip up every time she lifts her arms
• Tossing the ball just high enough, instead of too much
• Keeping the ball in front of her

In addition, we always, always work on passing to target.  The outside hitter is mostly known for their powerful spikes, but in reality, the outside hitter has to be one of the best passers on the team, and usually has primary responsibility for returning serves. 

For passing drills, we use the basketball court and the basketball hoop in particular.  If you can forearm pass (ie bump) a ball into a basket, then you are getting it high enough and accurate enough to get it to the setter.  We worked on straight passes, shuffling to the right, and deep left (hips to ball, angle to target).  We mimicked passing from the center and left back row positions (if you can do those, you can easily pass from the back right position).

 For hitting drills, we did all stuff Natasha hasn’t done before.  Her club coaches are both members of the Edmonds Community College team, and I have been watching what they do to work on their hitting.  Basically all you need is a wall and a ball.

The first drill is to hit the ball into the floor about two feet from the wall, so that the ball bounces up into the wall and back to you.  You can judge power and accuracy from this drill.  Natasha focuses on hitting it and registering how much pop the ball had and how good the hit felt (so she can start reproducing solid hits).  I focus on her technique - is she zipped, is her elbow high, does she have torso rotation, etc.  This drill is mostly about hitting with power.

The second drill is the same as the first, but instead of  catching the ball when it returns, you hit it back into the floor.  The object is to continue hitting the ball against the wall without stopping or catching the ball.  This drill works on the timing and precision of your hits.  One good thing about both of these drills is that since you are hitting the ball into the ground, you are also hitting it lower - which automatically works on not throwing it so high and keeping the ball in front of you.

The third drill is a bit different.  Instead of hitting the ball into the floor, you hit the ball into the wall.  Same technique that you would use on a serve or standing hit.  When the ball returns, practice passing to the setter spot.  This drill works both on your power, but also on returning serves.  The better the hit, the harder the return will be.  Did I mention that the outside hitter is the primary return server on the team.   Great practice for returning hard serves.

 We finished with some long hits.  Natasha stood about three quarters of the way across the gym and hit balls to me.  She wasn’t working on hitting really hard, or on serving per se.  I just wanted her to connect with what it felt like to hit the ball really well and cause it to travel far - just from hitting it well.

Natasha had a great practice.  She went the full hour, and didn’t want to stop.

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 12/27/2007
• Time: 14:23:52
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

Filed under: Girls Volleyball, Uncategorized, father daughter, volleyball  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment